A few characters

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 16:03:06

Since I'm crazy motivated today, I'm merging some of my WIP threads into one. New character below.

A detective character, unshaded. His fedora is giving me major trouble. The bits underneath the brim just look generally awful and wrong. Any tips are, as always, appreciated.

Kweepa · Sat 10/06/2006 16:41:10

Yes, indeed, it's difficult to draw something that doesn't look ridiculous.
I think you've done a good job here. Perhaps:
* you shouldn't see quite so much of the underside of the brim on the right
* the hatband shouldn't be so thick
* there should be a little "triangle" of underside parallel to the hairline (maybe three pixels high at the back)
What's under the hat (the detective) has more problems
* his hair comes much too close to his eyebrow - it should look more like a sideburn than a sweep of hair
* his ear is hanging off
* his left eye is sticking out of his face

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 16:50:33

Great suggestions, Steve!

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "triangle of underside"? Could you explain a bit further?

Thanks!

Kweepa · Sat 10/06/2006 17:28:01

Something like this:

I also cleaned up the brim somewhat.
(Whoops! I seem to have lost some of the colours. But that's not important.)

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 17:45:30

Sweet. Although I prefered the hairline the way it was before, so I made that change.

Now, to shade! Fun times.

ManicMatt · Sat 10/06/2006 18:06:56

What about a rounder nose?

And I would have moved his ear futher in, but Steve knows best. (At least, better than me I presume)

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 18:46:57

Boom! Shading.

It's a start. Still trying to go for that "noir/shadowy" look.

Suppose I should have put all of these in one thread.

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 19:30:44

NEW:

This is a bright, annoyingly optimistic fellow who is always smiling. I'm surprisingly happy with the way he turned out. Less so with his shading:

He doesn't look shaded so much as UNSHAVEN. Any ideas are appreciated.

EDIT: whoops. forgot his skullcap. :-o

passer-by · Sat 10/06/2006 19:40:06

Since I can't draw a hat that's better than yours, I'll give an example which should give you some hints about the hat parts that could look better.

Mr Flibble · Sat 10/06/2006 20:20:31

I don't think I did a great job with this one, but hopefully it'll give you some ideas. I took cp's hat advice into account by lowering the peak, reshaping the brim and recolouring. As for the shading on the face, I thought it was a little confusing originally, he appeared to be being lit from above and below simultaneously. I changed the light source to the top right hand corner for simplicity's sake. I changed his expression to make him look a bit surly and grumpy. To combat the issue of the floating head I added in some shoulders, I tried to keep the colour count low by using the black a lot, which also helped with the noir-ish look. Oh, I also changed the shape of his face at the right by reducing it by 1 pixel.

I know this this is second paintover I've done for you in the last half hour or so, but your linework is good which makes painting very enjoyable.
(Plus, painting hot Indian women AND Indiana Jones-a-likes? Who wouldn't?

)

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 20:29:33

Happy to oblige, Mr. Flibble! I love your edits, especially your "sam spade" version of my character.

Kweepa · Sat 10/06/2006 21:10:53

Here's my take of the shading:

Similar approach to "Stone" but this time the side lights are blue and yellow instead of pure white.

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 21:50:19

Right. I did a version myself, using Flib's pic as a guideline. I shortened the hat, futzed with the shading, and added a coat. The floating heads do look a bit strange, true.

Thanks again, everyone. I'm very happy with this one now.

ManicMatt · Sat 10/06/2006 22:29:49

Wow, he went from a rookie detective to a hard boiled grizzled detective!

Dave Gilbert · Sat 10/06/2006 22:50:49

Witness the magic!

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sun 11/06/2006 02:58:30

I did an edit of the blonde guy with overhead lighting. Bear in mind that shadows bring out facial details.

Ali · Sun 11/06/2006 15:58:17

I thought I'd have a go at shading this guy while retaining a youthful cheekiness:

I've made no major changes but I think it works a little better. Drawing a skullcap at this angle is tricky, but I think I've just about managed it. Also, I added a pupil and a sparkle to his eyes.

DeviantGent · Wed 14/06/2006 15:55:31

The PI... could it be the mighty Griff?